Sister Barbara Doherty, S.P., is an educator and theologian. A Roman Catholic nun, she is a member of the Sisters of Providence of Saint Mary-of-the-Woods

Sisters of Providence of Saint Mary-of-the-Woods

The Sisters of Providence of Saint Mary-of-the-Woods are an apostolic congregation of Catholic women founded by Saint Theodora Guerin at Saint Mary-of-the-Woods, Indiana, in 1840...

. She was president of Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College

Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College

Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College is a Roman Catholic, four-year liberal arts women's college located northwest of Terre Haute, Indiana, between the Wabash River and the Illinois state line. There is also a small village of the same name located nearby...

 in Indiana

Indiana

Indiana is a US state, admitted to the United States as the 19th on December 11, 1816. It is located in the Midwestern United States and Great Lakes Region. With 6,483,802 residents, the state is ranked 15th in population and 16th in population density. Indiana is ranked 38th in land area and is...

 from 1984-1998. Other posts have been as director of the Institute of Religious Formation at Catholic Theological Union

Catholic Theological Union

The Catholic Theological Union, located in the Hyde Park neighborhood of Chicago, is one of the largest schools of theology in the world and trains men and women for lay and clerical ministry within the Roman Catholic Church...

 in Chicago

Chicago

Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...

, president of the Indiana Conference of Higher Education, and on national boards of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious

Leadership Conference of Women Religious

The Leadership Conference of Women Religious is a canonically approved membership organization which exists as a support system and corporate voice for leaders of institutes, or congregations, of women religious in the United States.The conference has more than 1500 members, whose congregations...

 and the Women's College Coalition

Women's College Coalition

The Women's College Coalition was founded in 1972 and describes itself as an "association of women's colleges and universities – public and private, independent and church-related, two- and four-year – in the United States and Canada whose primary mission is the education and advancement of...

.

Doherty has a bachelor's degree in Latin, English and history from Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College

Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College

Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College is a Roman Catholic, four-year liberal arts women's college located northwest of Terre Haute, Indiana, between the Wabash River and the Illinois state line. There is also a small village of the same name located nearby...

, a Master's degree in Sacred Doctrine from Saint Mary's College (Indiana)

Saint Mary's College (Indiana)

Saint Mary's College is a private Catholic liberal arts college founded in 1844 by the Sisters of the Holy Cross. It is located in Notre Dame, an unincorporated community northeast of the city of South Bend, in St. Joseph County, Indiana, United States — as are the University of Notre Dame and Holy...

 and a doctorate in Theology from Fordham University

Fordham University

Fordham University is a private, nonprofit, coeducational research university in the United States, with three campuses in and around New York City. It was founded by the Roman Catholic Diocese of New York in 1841 as St...

. She has also received honorary doctor of letters degrees from Indiana State University

Indiana State University

Indiana State University is a public university located in Terre Haute, Indiana, United States.The Princeton Review has named Indiana State as one of the "Best in the Midwest" seven years running, and the College of Education's Graduate Program was recently named as a 'Top 100' by U.S...

 and Dominican University

Dominican University

Dominican University may refer to:* Dominican University of California, an independent university of Catholic heritage located 12 miles north of the Golden Gate Bridge in Marin County, California...

.

During the 1940s and 50s, Doherty worked with the Friendship House

Friendship House

Friendship House is a missionary movement founded in the early 1930s by Catholic social justice activist Catherine de Hueck Doherty, one of the leading proponents of interracial justice in pre-Martin Luther King, Jr...

 and on Chicago

Chicago

Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...

's Skid Row. In 1982 Doherty was on the steering committee to found the Women of Providence in Collaboration

Women of Providence in Collaboration

Women of Providence in Collaboration or WPC is an association of congregations of North American Roman Catholic religious sisters with "Providence" in their name...

, an association of religious congregations related to Providence

Divine Providence

In Christian theology, divine providence, or simply providence, is God's activity in the world. " Providence" is also used as a title of God exercising His providence, and then the word are usually capitalized...

. Doherty has studied and lectured in Europe

Europe

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

, Asia

Asia

Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...

, Central America

Central America

Central America is the central geographic region of the Americas. It is the southernmost, isthmian portion of the North American continent, which connects with South America on the southeast. When considered part of the unified continental model, it is considered a subcontinent...

, South America

South America

South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...

 and Polynesia

Polynesia

Polynesia is a subregion of Oceania, made up of over 1,000 islands scattered over the central and southern Pacific Ocean. The indigenous people who inhabit the islands of Polynesia are termed Polynesians and they share many similar traits including language, culture and beliefs...

.

Doherty served as coordinator of the Office of the Shrine of Saint Mother Theodore Guerin

Theodore Guerin

Saint Mother Théodore Guérin , designated by the Vatican as Saint Theodora, is the foundress of the Sisters of Providence of Saint Mary-of-the-Woods, Indiana, a congregation of Catholic nuns...

 for the Sisters of Providence of Saint Mary-of-the-Woods

Sisters of Providence of Saint Mary-of-the-Woods

The Sisters of Providence of Saint Mary-of-the-Woods are an apostolic congregation of Catholic women founded by Saint Theodora Guerin at Saint Mary-of-the-Woods, Indiana, in 1840...

from August 2007 until January 2011.